The plans for what would become MSUM were laid down in 1885, when the Minnesota State Legislature passed a bill declaring the need for a new state normal school in the Red River Valley, with an eye on Moorhead. The State Senator who proposed the bill, State Senator Solomon Comstock, donated 6 acres (2.4 ha) and appropriated the funds that would go to form Moorhead Normal School, which opened in 1888. In 1921, the State authorized the school to offer the four-year Bachelor of Science degree in Education in order to satisfy the need for high school teachers in northwest Minnesota, and the school became Moorhead State Teachers College.

With the entrance of World War II, the college entered into a contract with the Army Air Corps to train aviation students. After World War II, enrollment swelled to more than 700 students and the school diversified and broadened into both a liberal arts and professional curriculum. The school began offering a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1946 and graduate programs by 1953. As a result of the broadened offerings, by 1957 the name was changed to Moorhead State College.

Weld Hall, the oldest building on campus.

In 1969, the school joined a cooperative cross-registration exchange with neighboring Concordia College and North Dakota State University, creating the Tri-College University. The school continued to increase its number of programs and by 1975, the State Legislature that year granted the school university status under the name Moorhead State University. In 1995, Moorhead State became part of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. On July 1, 2000, the school was renamed Minnesota State University Moorhead via a request sent to the Board of Trustees of the system.

Minnesota State University Moorhead was rated the 18th top liberal arts college in the midwest by TIME magazine in 2008.

The school has went through many names changes with Moorhead Normal School (1887), Moorhead State Teachers College (1921), Moorhead State College (1957), Moorhead State University (1975) and finally Minnesota State University Moorhead (2000).

MSUM offers 76 undergraduate majors with 99 emphases and 14 graduate degree programs. MSUM's colleges: the College of Arts, Media and Communication; the College of Business and Innovation; the College of Education and Human Services; the College of Humanities and Social Sciences; and the College of Science, Health and the Environment.

The Nursing program is accredited at both the baccalaureate (BSN) and master’s (MS in nursing) levels by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). Additional areas of accreditation include: Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences; Athletic Training; and Teacher Education.[9]

Minnesota State University Moorhead professors have been recognized with more CASECarnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching Professors of the Year designations than any college or university, public or private, in Minnesota, the Dakotas, Iowa, or Wisconsin. One professor has earned CASE Carnegie United States Professor of the Year designation and eleven professors have earned designation as CASE Carnegie Minnesota Professor of the Year.[11][12]

The campus newspaper is The Advocate, formerlyThe MiSTiC.The MiSTiC was closed by university administration in 1970.[13]

The school also publishes a literary magazine, Red Weather,[14] with the support of the English Department. The yearly publication is a journal of prose, poetry, interviews, photography and art by current undergraduates and graduate students, faculty, staff, and alumni.

Students produce a weekly open-submission literary journal entitled The Yellow Bicycle, a collection of poetry, prose, essays, and reviews.[15]

MSUM produces a daily faculty/staff email newsletter called Dragon Digest[16] and a twice a year publication for its alumni and friends titled Moorhead Magazine.[17]

The school's college radio station is KMSC, which airs on AM 1500. KMSC is a student organization that has been set up to run as a Non-profit Educational radio station and serves as an in-house learning facility.[18]

MSUM sponsors a Student Academic Conference annually. The Student Academic Conference provides student researchers from each of its colleges with the opportunity to present their work to faculty, administration, peers, and the general public in a formal academic setting.[19] The conference was first offered in 1998.[20]

The conference provides a formal setting for upper class students to present their research from classes required under their major. There is a possibility of the student's research being published or presented at a state, regional, or national conference. The Student Academic Conference is a great opportunity for students and MSUM to gain recognition on a larger scale. Any major or discipline can present at the conference as long as it abides by conference rules based on which forum the student chooses to present the research. There is an option to orally present using visual aids, Powerpoint, etc..., or the student can construct a poster board displaying key points and results to be presented in a more informal manner taking questions and inquiries from onlookers. The conference is kicked off by a luncheon for all the participants. For some majors, presenting at the conference is mandatory in which the student presents their discipline's research from their senior seminar or thesis class.

Minnesota State University Moorhead teams participate as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's NCAA Division II. The Dragons are a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).
The MSUM athletic teams are called the Dragons. MSUM has a wide variety of intramural sports including flag football, softball, and soccer. Club teams are also available for men's and women's rugby, men's and women's lacrosse, and baseball which compete nationally.